Chapter 2 Plot Summary: Chapter 2 begins with the end of summer. Dill returns to his home in Meridian, and Scout’s first year of school is about to begin. Jem walks Scout to school, and on the way, carefully instructs her on the nature of their relationship in regard to school. Scout is told not to ask Jem to play with her, not to make embarrassing references to his personal life, and in general, to remain with the other first graders. “School’s different,” he says. Scout’s teacher, Miss Caroline, is a young woman from Northern Alabama, with very new ideas about education. She begins her lesson by reading a book about several anthropomorphic cats, which goes completely over the students heads, then begins teaching the kids the alphabet. Miss Caroline is dismayed to discover that Scout can already read, and tells her to tell Atticus to stop teaching her, so that she can attempt to undo the damage. Miss Caroline also has no idea of Maycombs ways, and finds herself thouroughly perplexed by a boy named Cunningham, who refuses to borrow a quarter from her, and another kid who only attends first grade for the first day of each school year. By the end of the day, she has whipped Scout and sent her to the corner for trying to explain about the Cunninghams.
Setting Most of the second chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the Maycomb school. Rural schools were often in a poor state during the Great Depression, because property tax of farms fell, and as a result it was difficult to maintain schools. However, the Maycomb school seems good enough, and has just come into a new educational system, including the Dewey Decimal System.
Vocabulary Multitudes-A large number of something Condescend-To do something that one believes is beneath oneself Enact-to act out or perform Peculiarities-Odd characteristics Indigenous-Native to an area Meditating-mull over, reflect on Wallowing-Indulge in Illicit-Illegal, not what one should be doing Drawl- A slow way of speaking with elongated vowels
Character profile in chapter 2: Dill: Dill is one year older then Scout. In the summer he lives with his Aunt, who is neighbors with Scout and Jem. One of the first things Dill brings up when he meets Scout and Jem, is the fact that he can read. His goal for the summer is to get Boo Radley out of his house. Jem: Jem is Scout’s brother. He is four years older than her. Fear is not something Jem likes to think is not in his vocabulary. Any dare thrown at him, will be a mission to complete. No matter how scary the dare is. Jem is known to be the better behaved child between Scout and him according to Calpurnia. Scout: Scout is the narrator of the book. She is a tom boy and loves playing with her brother. Being called a girl is something Scout hates, and will do anything not to be called one. Having a bad temper is something Scout is working on. She is an extremely bright student since she is one of the only students in her class who can read and write. Being able to read and write gets her in trouble with Miss Caroline. Atticus: Atticus who is born and raised in Maycomb, Alabama, is the father of Scout and Jem. He is never around but he is a good father. He isn’t over protective or racist. He has pity on Calpurnia. His occupation is criminal law which he dislikes. Miss Caroline Fisher: She is Scout’s grade one teacher. “Miss Caroline was no more than twenty-one. She had bright auburn hair, pink cheeks, and wore crimson fingernail polish. She also wore high-heeled pumps and a red-and-white-striped dress. She looked and smelled like peppermint drop.”(16) She is a new teacher and is bringing a new way of teacher which involves only learning how to write in grade three. Scout already knows how to read and write, so Miss Caroline throws a tantrum and demands scout to tell her dad to stop teaching her. Miss Caroline doesn’t know many people in Maycomb. Calpurnia: Calpurnia is a black woman who lives with Scout and Jem. She is their cook and looks after them since their father isn’t around most of the time. Cal acts as their mother figure since their mother died when scout was only two years old. Cal is strict and takes no nonsense. Walter Cunningham: Walter comes from a poor family. He doesn’t take anything he can’t pay back. He doesn’t own shoes and gets hookworms because of it. His family pays people back with what they have. When their family needed a lawyer they paid Atticus with bags of wood and so on. Photo Bank: Bus from the 1930’s
Chapter 2
Plot Summary: Chapter 2 begins with the end of summer. Dill returns to his home in Meridian, and Scout’s first year of school is about to begin. Jem walks Scout to school, and on the way, carefully instructs her on the nature of their relationship in regard to school. Scout is told not to ask Jem to play with her, not to make embarrassing references to his personal life, and in general, to remain with the other first graders. “School’s different,” he says. Scout’s teacher, Miss Caroline, is a young woman from Northern Alabama, with very new ideas about education. She begins her lesson by reading a book about several anthropomorphic cats, which goes completely over the students heads, then begins teaching the kids the alphabet. Miss Caroline is dismayed to discover that Scout can already read, and tells her to tell Atticus to stop teaching her, so that she can attempt to undo the damage. Miss Caroline also has no idea of Maycombs ways, and finds herself thouroughly perplexed by a boy named Cunningham, who refuses to borrow a quarter from her, and another kid who only attends first grade for the first day of each school year. By the end of the day, she has whipped Scout and sent her to the corner for trying to explain about the Cunninghams.
Setting
Most of the second chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the Maycomb school. Rural schools were often in a poor state during the Great Depression, because property tax of farms fell, and as a result it was difficult to maintain schools. However, the Maycomb school seems good enough, and has just come into a new educational system, including the Dewey Decimal System.
Vocabulary
Multitudes-A large number of something
Condescend-To do something that one believes is beneath oneself
Enact-to act out or perform
Peculiarities-Odd characteristics
Indigenous-Native to an area
Meditating-mull over, reflect on
Wallowing-Indulge in
Illicit-Illegal, not what one should be doing
Drawl- A slow way of speaking with elongated vowels
Character profile in chapter 2:
Dill: Dill is one year older then Scout. In the summer he lives with his Aunt, who is neighbors with Scout and Jem. One of the first things Dill brings up when he meets Scout and Jem, is the fact that he can read. His goal for the summer is to get Boo Radley out of his house.
Jem: Jem is Scout’s brother. He is four years older than her. Fear is not something Jem likes to think is not in his vocabulary. Any dare thrown at him, will be a mission to complete. No matter how scary the dare is. Jem is known to be the better behaved child between Scout and him according to Calpurnia.
Scout: Scout is the narrator of the book. She is a tom boy and loves playing with her brother. Being called a girl is something Scout hates, and will do anything not to be called one. Having a bad temper is something Scout is working on. She is an extremely bright student since she is one of the only students in her class who can read and write. Being able to read and write gets her in trouble with Miss Caroline.
Atticus: Atticus who is born and raised in Maycomb, Alabama, is the father of Scout and Jem. He is never around but he is a good father. He isn’t over protective or racist. He has pity on Calpurnia. His occupation is criminal law which he dislikes.
Miss Caroline Fisher: She is Scout’s grade one teacher. “Miss Caroline was no more than twenty-one. She had bright auburn hair, pink cheeks, and wore crimson fingernail polish. She also wore high-heeled pumps and a red-and-white-striped dress. She looked and smelled like peppermint drop.”(16) She is a new teacher and is bringing a new way of teacher which involves only learning how to write in grade three. Scout already knows how to read and write, so Miss Caroline throws a tantrum and demands scout to tell her dad to stop teaching her. Miss Caroline doesn’t know many people in Maycomb.
Calpurnia: Calpurnia is a black woman who lives with Scout and Jem. She is their cook and looks after them since their father isn’t around most of the time. Cal acts as their mother figure since their mother died when scout was only two years old. Cal is strict and takes no nonsense.
Walter Cunningham: Walter comes from a poor family. He doesn’t take anything he can’t pay back. He doesn’t own shoes and gets hookworms because of it. His family pays people back with what they have. When their family needed a lawyer they paid Atticus with bags of wood and so on.
Photo Bank:
Bus from the 1930’s
Schools in the 1930’s
Tree houses in the 1930’s
Auburn hair
red and white striped dress
Catawba worm
Hookworms
overalls
scrip stamps
Crokersack
Go back to CHAPTER 1
Go on to CHAPTER 3
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